The 2024 Nature study that is the subject of this article met these responsibilities to a high standard in its scientific publication.

The task of translating those findings for a general audience while maintaining the same standards is more difficult, because the conventions and context of scientific publication are not always transferable to long-form narrative writing.

The attempt has been made here to maintain accuracy, context, community recognition, and epistemic humility throughout — but the reader who is interested in the specific scientific findings is encouraged to consult the primary publication in Nature for the authoritative account of the methodology and results.

The Passage of Centuries